


Delinquents - A Lee Pace Fan Fic

by Thephoenixalchemist



Category: Lee Pace - Fandom
Genre: Best Friends, Family Issues, Friendship/Love, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-10-13 23:10:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10523883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thephoenixalchemist/pseuds/Thephoenixalchemist
Summary: Requita Belgraeves is a young Native American girl from Chickasha, Oklahoma. With her and her best friend-for-life Lee Pace, they set out to rule the world by their impeccable imaginations, cheekiness, and trouble-making ways. But then, Requita and her family moves away, to New York, of all places.And for the next twenty-eight years, they never saw each other.Until a spilled coffee and an icy puddle one day in the midst of winter of 2015, they meet again…Shall they reminisce? Shall they share tales of their lives apart?Or shall they tear New York apart like the delinquents they were in their hometown, and let their imaginations play once again?WARNING: Triggers such as attempted suicide and domestic abuse are featured in this fic.





	1. Chapter One - Pirates, Bandits and Tree-Climbers

'C'mon, Lee! Keep up!' Requita called over her shoulder as she ran across the daisy field, her best friend chasing behind.  
'Slow down! You're too fast!' Lee called after Requita, but she couldn't hear her companion call to her. The wind whistling past her ears and whipping her long brown hair into knots made her deaf of Lee's pleads. She was the fastest runner on this globe, and no one could tell her to slow down for anyone.

Except when she ran out of puff.

Requita finally stopped running, and leaned against her knees as she panted, waiting for Lee to catch up with her. When he finally did, Lee collapsed at her feet, his little chest rising and falling with rasps and heaves. Requita laid down next to him, and they both looked up to the white fluffy clouds of the summer day.  
'You're too fast for anyone.' Lee said, wiping the sweat from his eyes. At that particular moment, Lee and Requita were both seven years old. Requita was Native American, of the Cherokee tribe. Though she had grown with the city life, rather than her father's heritage. She had long dark brown hair that reached to her waist and chocolate brown eyes that could melt butter if she stared at it long enough. Requita also had freckles all over her nose and cheeks, thanks to her white American red-head mother.  
Lee was a brown-headed boy with blue eyes, like the Caribbean sea. He too had freckles, but not as many as Requita had. He had short legs, and compared to Requita, was the shortest. And neither the fastest out of the duo.

'Rikki?' Lee called his friend by his adapted nickname. Requita turned to him. 'Yeah?'  
'You know, I'm going to marry you one day.' Lee confessed, still looking up at the clouds rather than the eyes of his faster companion.  
'Eww, Lee!' Requita hit Lee on his shoulder. Lee yelped and held his now-sore shoulder. 'What was that for? It hurt.'  
'Marrying people is gross. Adults get married when they're old. We're both seven!'  
'I said: One day!' Lee complained. They both sighed and looked back at the clouds.  
'Requita...' Lee began again.  
'Yeah?' Requita said.  
'You're my best friend, and no one else will be my friend but you.' Lee said. And then suddenly something landed on her stomach. A daisy chain. Lee had made his best friend a daisy chain.  
'Thank you!' Requita sat up and sat the daisy chain on her head, as a crown would fit a princess. 'Thank you, sir knight. You token of love has been accepted.'

'Look out!' Lee bounced to his feet and pointed out to the horizon. 'Bandits approach the castle! Hide my lady, and be safe from the beasts that they are!'  
Requita got to her feet. Not bothering to pat away the grass and flattened daisies that covered her hair and back from laying on the ground, she started running to the tree line.  
'Save the castle, sir knight, and return safely!' Requita called behind her.

Requita made it to the tree line, and started up a large tree, not caring about her best Sunday dress being torn by the sharp branches. She sat halfway up the tree, on a thick branch, peering out the green leaves as they gently rustled against the warm wind. But Requita couldn't spy Lee anywhere. He wasn't in the field where she had left him to fight away the bandits that had come to steal her treasure.

'Sir Lee, are you okay?' Requita called out through the green midst of leaves. She was starting to get worried. Where was her knight in shining armour?  
'Lee? Where are you?' Requita called out again, a pit of sudden anxiety suddenly overwhelmed her stomach. She started down the tree to find her heroic silver knight.  
Until a sharp edge from a broken branch on the tree caught on her best Sunday dress, and as Requita tried to find her footing on the tree, her foot slipped and her dress ripped. She cried out and closed her eyes shut with fear as she plummeted, and she landed with a thud onto the grassy earth, entangled with the great tree's roots and weeds that surrounded the tree.  
Luckily the fall was only six feet, and falling from this tree caused no long term nor short term damage to Requita. 

'Ow...' Requita moaned as her head spinned. She opened her deep brown eyes to look upwards, to the moving leaves and afternoon sunlight that leaked through the canopy of green. They moved with a sort of grace, like a slow ballroom dance. The golden sunlight lit against the grass and Requita's face, warming her cheeks. Somehow, Requita wanted to stay here, and watch the leaves dance on. She smiled and dug her fingers into the ground, feeling the cold dirt between her fingers.

Then a little red face suddenly blocked her view of the green canopy. Sir Lee had returned to the princess.  
'Requita! Are you okay?' Lee sounded scared. Requita nodded, the back of her head rubbing more into the ground. 'I'm fine, my valiant knight. Come, lay with me, and watch the dance.'  
'What?'' Lee's voice of concern was replaced with confusion. Requita grabbed his hand and tugged him down, so that he would lay with her as they did in the field, head to head, and watching the leaves do their dance.  
'I should have caught you.' Lee broke the sound of the wind's whistling with his guilt-ridden voice. Requita turned her head to him, as he continued to look up. 'What?'  
'I should've caught you, when you fell.' Lee's eyes brimmed with tears.  
'Why?' Requita asked.  
Lee looked at her, his blue eyes starring into her brown eyes. 'I'm your knight; I need to protect you from everything that can hurt you.'  
Requita smiled, and removed her fingers form the earth and took Lee's hand. 'I will forever be grateful for your protection, sir knight. But I am a free spirit, and nothing can contain me. I will get myself into trouble, and you will be there to catch me when I fall forever...this single time you were fighting against rebels, and I fell because I was silly.' Requita touched her nose to Lee's. 'I will make sure that every time that I fall, it will be into your arms.'

Both of the children smiled. No one knew, but what Lee and Requita said to each other was a sacred vow to each other. They would be there for each other no matter what, and they would catch each other if they were to fall.  
Though that vow was going to change, when Requita returned home from her and Lee's adventures.  
'Requita! You're dress is ruined, and your all dirty!' Requita's mother scolded her daughter when she had walked through the door. 'What have you been doing?'  
'I was playing with Lee. I fell, that's all.' Requita tried to assure her mother. Requita's mother stood at the stove, apron tight around her waist and red hair in a bun as she stirred a pot with a wooden spoon. Her father sat at the bench, reading the newspaper as Requita was scolded due to her mishap with the tree.  
'I hope I can fix that dress, for your sake, young lady!' Requita's mother pointed to the hallway door as she stirred the pot. 'Go and take a bath.'

Requita walked slowly to the bathroom. Covered in dirt and with her daisy chain crown in her hand, she ran her bath, combed her hair, washed away all signs of her adventures and made herself look pretty in another summer dress, ready for dinner.  
But little did Requita or Lee know that over that dinner that fateful night, a discussion of moving away from Oklahoma to New York took place, due to the advertisement job that had been offered to Requita's father. An argument from Requita to her parents started, and a slap across the face was given to the child, and she ran out the door. There was only one place she could go to, and that was Lee's house.

But an angry father and mother caught her running on the road towards her valiant knight's castle, and she was taken. 

The princess was kidnapped, and her courageous knight would have to wait over a decade to see his beautiful maiden again.

Though over the course of time, they changed and became new people. But deep down inside, the knight and the princess were still there.


	2. Chapter Two - Princess Rikki Returns to Her Knight

Requita huffed a stray hair from her face as she laid in her bed, facing the ceiling. There she was, twenty-eight years later, in her own flat listening to the bustling street outside that consisted of loud car horns and the click-clacking of high heel shoes on the pavement. But as the streets of New York beckoned to her, she didn’t want to get up from bed. It wasn’t because of the intense and chilling cold outside, due to the New Year and the start of the January 2015 winter had set in and it seems it had no intentions of leaving. It was due to the pre-arranged luncheon her mother had planned for herself and Requita to catch up. And at the age of thirty-five, Requita’s mother wasn’t happy that she didn’t have a husband yet. 

Requita sighed and rubbed her eyes. It wasn’t like she wanted a husband; it’s just that she was too busy to have a relationship with anyone. The closest relationship she ever had was with her best friend when she used to live in Chickasha. Lee…she missed him so much. Remember that hole that she felt when she couldn’t find him when she was up in that tree? Ever since she was forced into that car, looking out the back window as her best friend ran after the car as it gathered speed, she felt that niggling empty hole in her stomach. Lee had ran as fast as he could after Requita in the car, but her parents were speeding because they were catching the plane that day, and Requita knew that he wasn’t much of a fast runner. Tears were running down both their faces as they parted ways forever. Requita shook her head and sat up, slamming her fists against the grey duvet. She didn’t want to think about him, or how she felt. 

Requita looked over to the alarm clock, and then swore. ‘Oh shit!’ She stumbled out of bed, her foot getting twisted in the sheets, making Requita fall out of bed and onto the cold wooden floor of her bedroom. She was late. Again.

But as she rushed to get dressed, her mind kept going back to Lee. Requita knew that he was a famous actor now. Ever since seeing the movie “The Fall”, and bawling her eyes out at the end due to the emotional plot twists and character development, she realised that the young man who played Roy was, in fact, her childhood best friend. She sat on the couch gobsmacked for about half an hour after the movie had finished. The cleaners that had come to vacuum the popcorn from the carpets in the cinema had to ask her to leave before she had gathered herself.   
A real-life famous actor. Requita thought to herself as she wrapped her warm red scarf around her neck and zipped her knee high black boots. He’s done so much and is so successful; I doubt he would remember me even if I told him of our adventures as kids.

Requita stumbled out of her bedroom, flinging on a black coat and grabbing her charging phone and reading glasses. Then her other friend followed her from the warm bed sheets and braved the cold floor. Roy, the Egyptian Mau, padded after his owner in a desperate plea that came in the form of a needy meow for breakfast. Yes, she named her cat after Roy from “The Fall”. That’s how much she liked the movie.  
‘Yes, baby, I’ll get you your num nums in a minute.’ Requita said as she grabbed her earphones and shoved them into her shoulder bag. Reaching up into the cabinet of her kitchen, she retrieved a can of Fancy Feast for her feline friend. Often her and Roy would sit on the couch and watch movies or TV shows. If Requita were to end in tears due to the movie’s untimely sad ending, Roy would be there, purring and nudging his owner’s face in comfort. If the movie was funny, Roy would be there nudging her hand for a belly rub. It was probably the only stable relationship that Requita had ever successfully maintained, and the longest too. Roy had been Requita’s companion since he was a kitten in a stuffy pet store, which was nearly four years ago. One fond memory Requita loved with Roy was when she had just purchased the lovable kitten, and it was winter and incredibly cold outside. She could see Roy shivering through his coat of ultimate fluffiness, so Requita had put Roy up to her chest and wrapped her coat around the feline to keep him warm through the walk back home, where many new cat toys and warm milk awaited their return. 

As she started scooping out the processed tuna from the small tin onto Roy’s plastic dinner plate, Requita’s phone started ringing in her bag. The “Ghostbusters” theme tune echoed through her empty kitchen. She knew exactly who was calling her, as she was late for her luncheon with Mother.

Requita put down the spoon she was using for Roy’s breakfast, and rummaged through her bag with one hand. She grabbed her phone and swiped to answer the call, then placed the phone to her ear and pressed she shoulder against it, holding it in place so that Requita could serve her companions food.

‘Hey, Mom. I know, I’m late, but I’ll be there in ten minutes.’ Requita huffed a stray unbrushed hair from her face again. 

‘I’ve done the liberty of ordering you your usual, darling. A Caesar salad and ice tea, I think it was.’ Requita’s mother’s voice came through the phone. She could hear the bustling life in the background of the crowded café. 

‘Oh God, Mom. It’s way too cold for iced tea. Can you cancel it and get me a hot coffee instead?’ Requita shivered as she dropped the cat food tin into the bin ad placed Roy’s plate down for him to eat. 

‘I’ll try, dearest.’ Her mother sounded tired. ‘Please hurry. I have an appointment in an hour, and I need to get your father out of bed for it, and we both know how hard that’s going to be in this weather.’

‘Dad always hated winter. Moving to New York, Snowy Central of Connecticut, was one of the cons of his promotion.’ Requita smiled. She grabbed her bag and apartment keys and opened her front door. ‘Don’t worry; I’m leaving now. See you soon.’

‘Goodbye, darling.’ Requita’s mother hung up the phone. She was impressed how she learned so quickly how to use and iPhone. Dad hates cell phones, and never bought one. He believes in landlines being better. Then again, he is old fashioned.

Requita quickly walked to the lift at the end of the hallway and pressed down. Then she saw the yellow sign stuck on the elevator doors: “Out Of Order”. 

‘Oh, come on!’ Requita exclaimed. Then turned to the end of the hallway and jogged to the door marked “EXIT”, and started down the cold concrete stairs, illuminated by artificial light. Her quick steps echoed through the stairwell as she descended down the ground level of her apartment building. 

Requita opened the ground floor stairwell door and entered the empty lobby. No one was in the ghost town-like lobby except for the attentive hotel receptionist, Tyler, at the register typing away at the computer behind the desk. He saw me approaching the doors and stood. 

‘Hey, Miss Requita! How are you?’ Tyler grinned, giving me one of those million dollar smiles.

‘I’m great, and also late!’ I jogged past him waving. ‘I’ll see you later, Ty!’ 

‘Okay, bye!’ Tyler waved after me. There was a strict “No Running” rule in the lobby, but due to the fact that Requita and Tyler were good friends and that there was no one in the lobby, he lets Requita off. Tyler was a kind hearted kid; a lot younger than Requita, at least in his early twenties, yet he always had this certain charm he turned on when Requita was around. She was starting to think that he had some sort of crush on her, but she brushed that thought away. She couldn’t think about that now. 

Requita opened the doors out to the frozen and incredibly cold jungle known as New York. Requita gasped at the sudden cold hitting her face and wrapped her coat tighter around her as she slowly stepped down the snowy steps down to the sidewalk. The trees that lined the pavement from the road were leaf-less and covered in snow and sharp icicles. They seemed dead in this everlasting and chilling winter. In the spring and summer, the tops of the trees brushed against Requita’s bedroom window, the green leaves wisping in the warm breeze. But now the scratched against the glass, making the sound of nails against a blackboard. Winter seemed dead and endless in the sea of white.

Requita turned to her left, heading towards the café that her mother was waiting for her. But little did she know about her choice to go to the cafe that day, and not just cancel for the third time, was the best choice she had made in a very long time.

This best choice came in the form of her phone making its allocated text alert noise, and as Requita went to check her phone in her bag, her unbuttoned coat wiped open and she bumped into a stranger, making his coffee spill all over her red turtleneck jumper. 

‘Oh, God!’ Requita cried as the burning hot coffee scalded her mocha brown skin as it seeped through her cotton jumper. 

‘Oh my God, I am so sorry!’ Requita heard the stranger exclaim. 

As Requita tried to reach for her emergency tissues in her bag, she slipped on a patch of ice that had made the pavement slick and slippery, and she fell to the ground.

‘Holy crap, I am so sorry!’ She heard the stranger cry as he grabbed Requita’s arm to help her up. But as he lifted her up, he too slipped on the ice and fell next to Requita.

‘Oh my God, are you okay?’ It was Requita’s turn to ask the stranger of his current situation.

‘My ass hurts a bit, but I’m okay. You alright?’ The stranger asked. This was the first time Requita was able to get a good look at the stranger, as they sat facing each other sitting on the wet ground with an empty Starbucks coffee cup and a large coffee stain next to them, melting the unsalted ice that the City Council workers may have missed. The stranger seemed familiar in some aspects to Requita. Then she realised.  
‘Holy mothballs…’ Requita exclaimed, recognising the Caribbean blue eyes and jawline. ‘Lee…’

Lee Pace smiled, his teeth white and his cheeks chapped red from the winter wind. ‘Yeah, hi. I’m really sorry for bumping into you and spilling my coffee all over you, Miss…’ 

Requita smiled. ‘Requita. Requita Belgraeves.’

Lee had a sudden look of confusion on his face. ‘Miss Belgraeves, have we met by any chance?’

Requita laughed. ‘You better remember me, Sir Lee,’ She decided to quote from their adventures together back in Chickasha. ‘For it is I, Princess Requita, of the Daisy Kingdom.’

Requita thought it was a dumb introduction, but by the look on Lee’s face when he realised that the woman sitting next to him on the icy pavement was in fact his childhood friend, the princess, she knew that he had put the pieces together.

‘Holy shit! Requita?’ Lee cried.

‘Lee! I’ve missed you so much!’ Requita felt happy tears sting her eyes. Lee helped Requita up from the cold ground and gave her a bear hug which warmed Requita to the core. Not only did the hug warm her, but the fact that Lee was back in her life instantly filled something. That pit less hole in her stomach was no more, and her knight had returned to her.

~

‘Where the hell have you been?’ Requita had found herself asking the actor as she entered her apartment, shaking her coat dry. Lee wiped his shoes on the doormat and entered with her. ‘Oh, you know, around.’ Was the actor’s answer.

Requita laid her coat on the couch and faced Lee. Lee faced Requita. Together they laughed and the hugged once again. Then Requita realised how tall Lee was now.

‘Jeez, you grew.’ She said as they parted from their hug. Lee’s blue eyes sparkled with happiness and charm, and his brown hair was tussled from the wind. 

Lee laughed. ‘Yeah, and now I can keep up with you when you run.’ Lee teased. 

‘Oh, we’ll have to see about that.’ Requita crossed her arms. ‘It’s been too cold to go running, so I’ve stopped til the spring comes.’

‘I don’t blame you. Damn, it’s like five degrees out there.’ Lee’s teeth chattered. Requita suddenly realised how cold it was in here. ‘Oh God, the radiator.’ She stepped into the open plan lounge and turned on the radiator. 

‘Hello, little one.’ She heard the actor’s voice sound playful from behind her, and a small meow answered his greeting. Requita turned to see Lee had met Roy, who was rubbing his head against the actor’s leg.

‘Who’s the furball?’ Lee asked smiling. Requita blushed. ‘His name’s Roy.’ She hoped that he didn’t catch the connection between Roy and himself, but his cheeky smile gave her away.

‘Yes, from “The Fall”. You don’t know how much I cried in that movie.’ Requita scolded. Lee picked up Roy and scratched him behind the ears. ‘I understand. It’s a bit of a dark film.’

‘Oh, right, coffee.’ Requita brushed past Lee and the bench he was leaning against, holding her furry companion, and turned on the kettle. ‘Sorry, but I don’t think instant coffee is as good as Starbucks.’

‘It’s okay. They got my orders mixed up anyway, and they gave me something cinnamon-ey. It was a bit too sweet for me.’ Lee confessed. ‘I’m really sorry about your jumper.’

‘Meh, it’s okay.’ Requita looked down at the massive coffee stain that covered her entire chest and stomach. ‘I can get it out, I hope.’ 

Lee put Roy down on the wooden floor, and he sat down on one of the stools at the bench. ‘So,’ The actor started, looking for words.

‘So…’ Requita answered back. Lee smiled.

‘I missed you.’ Requita suddenly blurted out. ‘A lot.’

Lee’s face went serious suddenly. ‘I missed you too, Rikki.’

Hearing Lee call Requita by his adapted nickname made Requita smile brightly. ‘No one’s ever called me that other than you. I wouldn’t let them.’

‘Thanks for reserving that honour for me.’ Lee said quietly. 

Requita bit her lip and they continued to stare at each other for a few minutes. 

Then Requita’s phone went off, making her jump at the “Ghostbuster’s” theme tune. Lee laughed as Requita scrambled to get her phone from her bag. ‘The Ghostbusters? Good choice.’

‘Hella yeah.’ Requita said, and then swiped her phone to answer it. ‘Hello?’

‘And here am I, sitting here all alone, waiting for my daughter to arrive to have lunch with me, and yet she didn’t arrive.’ Requita winced at her mother’s angry tone through the phone.  
‘Mom, I‘m so sorry. Something happened and I completely spaced. I was on my way to the café and-‘

‘I don’t want to hear excuses, Requita.’ Her mother interrupted her daughter. ‘I’m on my way home now. I’ve made a booking at a restaurant for tomorrow around twelve, and you’re going to be there. We haven’t had a proper catch-up in weeks.’

We haven’t had a proper catch-up in weeks for a reason. Requita thought to herself. ‘Mom, I’ll be there. I’m so sorry!’ Before Requita could properly apologise, her mother had hung up on her.

‘Mom? Mom?’ Requita sighed and placed her phone back in her bag.

‘Was that the Dragon of the Deep?’ Requita heard Lee ask her. She turned to see Lee had gotten up from his seat and was pouring hot water into two mugs she had prepared with coffee. She laughed at their name for Requita’s mother. In their childhood adventures, her mother was The Dragon of the Deep, the dreaded monster of the Lagoon of Skulls. 

‘I can’t believe you still remember all this,’ Requita rubbed her eyes and sat next to Lee’s seat at the bench. Lee slid her mug of hot coffee to her. ‘I never forgot a thing. From the pirates trying to sink our ship, which was a treehouse if my memory serves me right, and that time you fell from the tree and ripped your Sunday dress.’

‘I remember that day all too well.’ Requita’s smile faded. ‘The day I was told we were leaving Oklahoma.’ Requita looked at Lee from her mug. ‘I ran away to your place, or I tried to.’  
‘You did?’ Lee’s prominent eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Requita nodded. ‘Dad had slapped me because I said some stuff I wasn’t proud of about leaving. I ran, and I just made it to your house when Dad pulled up next to me and forced me into the car.’

‘Jesus. I never knew.’ Lee took a breath.

‘I don’t blame him for it. I was a bitch.’ Requita took a sip of her coffee. ‘God, Mom’s never going to believe it when I tell her I ran into you twenty-eight years later. She hated you, if I can remember correctly.’

‘Yeah, she did.’ Lee’s smile returned. ‘I ripped her good apron.’

‘You ripped her good apron.’ Requita repeated with a chuckle. ‘I managed to get away, but one phone call to your parents, and I didn’t see you for three days.’

‘I wasn’t allowed out to your place until I apologised to the Dragon.’ Lee smiled. ‘Man, those were the days.’

‘Yeah, they were.’ Requita smiled. Then she went serious. ‘I remember you running after the car when we were going to catch the plane.’

Lee’s smiled faded. ‘Yeah, I remember that.’ Lee rubbed his eyes. ‘I couldn’t really run as fast as you, I was too small, and watching you being driven away, I just broke. I cried myself to sleep every night for at least two years, I missed my bud for so long. Those crazy adventures we had, being little shits and tearing up the town as if it was our playground.’

‘Well, we had our imaginations. Now kids these days have tablets, computers and the Internet. They don’t go outside anymore.’ Requita patted her lap and Roy jumped up and sat down. 

‘Yeah, it’s a different world from when we were kids…God, I make us sound old.’ Lee chuckled.

‘Kids look at us now, and they would think we were old.’ Requita patted Roy’s head and he purred softly. ‘So, Mr Big Movie Star,’ Lee blushed and looked down at his coffee. Requita smiled. ‘You’ve been busy since my terrible demise. Spill.’

Lee looked back up at Requita. ‘Oh God, where do I start?’

~

Lee and Requita laughed manically as they told their stories on the couch. At least a few hours had passed since they had reunited, and they had lost track of time and the world outside those four walls of Requita’s apartment.

‘Oh My God!’ Requita struggled to breathe as Lee finished telling her about his tine on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy. ‘You seriously just started dancing when Pratt was doing the dance off scene?’

‘Yeah, and everyone else joined in too.’ Lee smiled. ‘I admit, I pulled off some pretty sweet moves there. It’s all on the blooper reel.’

‘Oh, I have to check that out.’ Requita fanned herself with her hand as her cheeks burned. 

‘Okay, enough about me. What happened to you after you left Chickasha?’ Lee asked, patting Roy whom had laid down on Lee’s lap purring away.

Requita thought hard. ‘Okay. I went to this elementary school, and there was this other girl called Rosie. My God, she was bitch! She would tug my hair, steal my lunch money, and she would call me racist names. This was about three years ago after I left. I was about ten.’

‘What happened to her?’ Lee asked. 

Requita shrugged. ‘One day I had enough of her, so I punched her in the face. I think I broke her nose.’

Lee busted out in laughter. ‘Oh, I can imagine you doing that to her!’ 

‘Yeah, I got a suspension for that. Three days of lectures and punishments from Mom and Dad. And a really nasty letter from Rosie’s parents. Only a letter though, because they were too chicken to face me.’

Lee chuckled. ‘Sounds like the princess didn’t need the valiant knight after all.’ 

Silence enveloped the room. Requita looked at Lee. His smile had faded and his concentration was now focused on giving Roy a belly rub. 

‘Lee,’ Requita started. Lee looked up at the princess the knight’s blue eyes wet with unspilt tears. ‘I always needed you. Ever since I left, I had this horrible feeling in my stomach, like a need that needed to be filled. Like a part of me was missing. You were that missing part, and I knew that when I bumped into you again. I knew that you were the missing part of me,’ Requita took Lee’s hand in hers. ‘Because I think I left a piece of me with you, and you kept it all this time.’

Lee smiled ‘That’s good, because I felt the exact same way with you. I never forgot you.’ Then Lee raised his hand and touched Requita’s long brown hair. ‘I hate Rosie, for hurting you that way. I hate that I never saw you again, until now. You were my best friend.’

‘I hope, that now we have been reacquainted, I could be promoted back to that title.’ Requita fluttered her eyelids and smiled, trying to be goofy. Lee laughed. ‘Hell yeah! You’re not leaving me ever again.’

‘My God, I still can’t believe that I bumped into you today, of all days I had to go out and endure a lunch with Mom, and then I found you again.’

‘We’re so damn lucky, aren’t we?’ Lee asked. Requita nodded. ‘Shit, Mom’s gonna do backflips when she sees you.’

‘Wait,’ Lee said. Requita knew that he had a plan in action. ‘Where’s your phone?’

Requita stood up and grabbed her phone from her bag. ‘Why?’

‘Take a selfie with me, and then send it to her.’ Lee smiled. Requita chuckled. ‘She’s gonna die; she hates you that much.’

‘Let’s stir the cauldron of ol’ hates!’ Lee shuffled next to Requita as she sat down and got the camera ready on her phone.

‘Ready? One, two, DRAGON!’ Requita said.

‘DRAGON!’ Lee smiled with his chin on her shoulder, and Requita took the photo. Lee laughed whilst Requita opened the Messages, and started typing a text to her mother.

"Guess who I ran into today???  
LEE PACE! Remember we used to be bff’s back in Chickasha???  
Xoxoxo"

Requita pressed send, and then placed the phone on the coffee table next to the duo. ‘She’s gonna rage.’

Immediately as those words left Requita’s mouth, her phone made the alert noise. It sounded kinda like a ding, just the traditional iPhone text alert noise. 

Lee and Requita giggled insanely as she opened the text on her phone, and they burst laughing at what Requita’s mother had texted her back.

"What does “bff’s” mean?  
And who the hell is that hooligan? He IS NOT your boyfriend!"


	3. Chapter Three - Mother Knows Best

‘And who was that in the picture you showed me?’ Requita’s mother asked her directly as her daughter sat down at the café table in the seat cross from her. 

‘Jeez, you don’t need to sound so hateful. You seriously don’t remember Lee?’ Requita laughed as she took off her coat and let it drape over the back of the chair she was sitting on. ‘Lee Pace, my best friend from Chickasha.’

‘I have no idea who you’re talking about.’ Requita’s mother started stirring her coffee with a spoon, avoiding her daughter’s gaze.

‘You do remember him; that’s why you texted me “He is not your boyfriend”!’ Requita teased. ‘You don’t like him because he ripped your apron. He’s changed, a lot since Chickasha. And it’s not like he would do it again.’

‘Lee Pace is a trouble maker and a hooligan. All you did was hang out with that boy.’ Requita’s mother rolled her eyes.

‘Mom, he’s not a trouble maker. He’s a famous actor now; he has some of the biggest responsibilities ever now.’ Requita sipped on her pre ordered coffee. 

‘He’s immature.’

‘A seven year old is immature. A thirty-five year old man with a massive reputation? Not so much.’ Requita started to become annoyed with her mother’s complaints of her childhood friend.

‘He may be some hotshot actor now, but what about ten years in the future? I don’t want you seeing him again, Requita.’ Mother spat. 

Requita suddenly grew angry. ‘Seriously? You don’t want me seeing him again? He was my only best friend, and because we moved I never saw him again, until yesterday.’ Requita stood, grabbing her coat from the chair.

‘Where are you going?’ Requita’s mother asked hastily as her daughter gathered her bag and put on her coat.

‘I’m not seven anymore, Mom. Lee is my friend, and I’m not just going to do everything you say because you think “mother knows best”.’ Requita said angrily. She knew that her mother wouldn’t make a scene in public, especially at her favourite restaurant. Sometimes her mother could be so damn controlling and cynical. 

‘Requita, sit down right now!’ Her mother hissed quietly. Requita could see the couple at the table next to us starring at the mother and daughter duo. But Requita didn’t feel like dining with the Dragon of the Lagoon. She was a princess, and did not have to sit with the likes of a deep sea dwelling creature such as her.

‘Why did you always have to rule my life as if I wasn’t able to make my own decisions?’ Requita asked.

‘Because you’re not capable of doing so. I am your mother, and I am the one who makes the decisions.’ Her mother said. ‘Sit down now.’

‘You know what? You’re favourite character from The Hobbit, Thranduil?’ Requita smiled.

‘What about him?’ Mother asked. Requita leaned to her mother.

‘That’s Lee. He played Thranduil in the Hobbit trilogy.’ Requita knew that would sting a little. When she and her mother went to see the trilogy, Requita knew it was him instantly when she saw him turn away from the dwarves in need. Mother thought that Thranduil was hot as hell, and Requita had burst out laughing when she said that, but she never told her who he was. Thank God she had no idea how to use the Internet.

‘What? No…Sit down, Requita, now!’ Mother hissed in annoyance, obviously running one of her favourite movie series.

Requita didn’t listen to her mother. Instead of sitting down with the Dragon, the princess walked away from the hissing reptile of the deep, and into the cold afternoon air of the winter-held city. 

Yesterday, meeting Lee once again after so many years, was the one greatest thing that has happened to Requita in a very long time. Ever since leaving Chickasha, Requita’s mother had always made her decisions for her; if she would do ballet, or be attending a family dinner and such. She had controlled her every move like a puppet on a string. But now, realising her motives to rid Lee of Requita’s life, she has decided to ignore her mother, refrain her from ruling her life.

Requita buttoned her coat tightly around her body to keep warm as she walked the snowy, bustling main streets of the winter wonderland known as New York. Horns blared due to heavy traffic and people walked fast to avoid being outside for long periods of time. This reminded Requita of Chickasha’s winters, which were incredibly similar to New York in winter. The hottest it ever got was around 36 degrees. Requita could remember the summer that she and Lee had spent most of their time in the fields playing. The warm winds and the hot sun, it was unusually hot. 

Thinking about Lee immediately made her smile. She hadn’t told her mother, but yesterday Lee had asked her out for coffee after work. She was looking forward to seeing Lee again, as today had started with a rather bitter start, including the weather. She had walked past the spot where she and he had crashed into each other. It had been salted and the ice had disappeared, leaving the grey concrete damp with snow.   
Requita turned the corner, and crossed the road quickly onto the other side of the street, where she worked. The New York Public Library was probably the biggest library Requita had ever seen. Working with books was Requita’s dream. She loved reading. From Hemmingway to Charles Dickens, the library was her workplace and getaway. And on the plus side, it was a lot warmer than the outside. Requita hurried up the snowy steps and into the warmer interior of her book wonderland.

At least today there was no tours on, so she could spend most of the day reading.

Bye-bye reality.

Hello fantasy.


	4. Chapter Four - Hot Chocolate and Charles Dickens

Requita had finished putting the returned books back to their designated spots on the dustless shelves, so she had settled down with a book on one of the window seats. She was allowed to sit and read during her lunch breaks, and without her name tag she looked like any other person in the library rather than someone who worked there. And sometimes, when her mother was being bitchy or when she was just having a bad day, she would take off her name tag and hide it in her bag, then settle down with a good book.

Today’s book selection was “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens. Requita loved the old classics. Dickens, Shakespeare; they seemed to explain and describe the world better than anyone. It was something about how the way the words captured you and how the ink danced on the pages that made Requita love them so much.

Then, interrupting her reading and the silent readers around her, Requita’s phone alerted her to a received message. Readers looked up at her with annoyance and she shot them with an apologetic look and fumbled around with her bag, trying to find her phone. When she did Requita instantly turned the phone onto silent. She opened her inbox, and there was a text from Lee.

Hi! Want to get a hot choc with me? 

Requita smiled. Then she texted back:

I’m on my lunch break, but I only have 10 minutes left.

Lee texted back within a minute of Requita sending her text.

I’ll come to you. Where do you work?

Requita smiled brighter. Lee was coming to her work to see her. He was such a gentleman.

They won’t let you in with a hot drink. I’ll meet you out front of the New York Public Library in five.

Requita gathered her things into her bag including her borrowed edition of “Great Expectations” and jumped off the window seat, her shoes clicking on the floor making readers look at her with disapproving faces. She power walked out into the large hallway towards the front exit, battling with carrying her bag and pinning her name tag onto her jumper. She smiled at the security guard as she straightened her jacket and patted her messy hair. 

Requita walked out into the cold air and buttoned up her jacket, her teeth chattering. She saw people walking fast on the sidewalk and cars driving slowly on the salted road. Requita could see her breath in the air when she breathed out. She tried to grab it when she breathed out, but failed dismally. People walking past into and out of the library gave her weird looks but she didn’t care. 

‘And just what are you doing?’ a voice said behind her, making Requita jump. She turned to see Lee, armed with two steaming Starbucks takeaway cups. I laughed. ‘I’m just passing the time.’

‘Here, warm up.’ Lee passed a cup to Requita and she took it gratefully. Lee looked over his shoulder at the library. ‘So, why here?’

Requita sipped her hot chocolate. ‘I work here.’ 

Lee smiled. ‘Really? It would be so awesome to be a librarian.’

Requita nodded. ‘At least you’d be out of the cold during winter.’ 

‘Speaking of cold, can’t we go inside?’ Lee begged. ‘I can’t feel my feet.’ 

Requita sniffed. ‘Maybe we could go through to the librarian lunch area. It would be fine to drink this in there.’ 

Requita lead Lee around the corner of the library to a door marked “Staff Entrance Only”. She scanned her security card into the scanner and it beeped, letting her and Lee into the warmth of the librarian lunch area. No one was in the room. Everyone had started their shift. Requita looked at the clock on the wall. She should’ve started work again two minutes ago, but she didn’t mind. She had already checked her area before having her break. Requita motioned towards the table and chairs. ‘Take a seat.’ She and Lee took off their winter coats and sat next to each other. 

‘I didn’t mean to press you or anything, it’s just that I saw a few journalists as I came to Starbucks and they saw me too. I kinda don’t want to be interviewed right now.’ Lee said.

‘It’s okay. I’d do anything to get away from those vultures.’ Requita shook her head. 

‘You don’t like journalists?’ Lee asked.

‘No. They break your bubble of personal space, they make up crap about people, they judge – oh, and why the hell do they just come up to you on the street, shove a microphone into your face and ask you questions when you’re trying to enjoy your day? It’s horrible, invading your space like that.’ Requita said. Then realised she was a bit mean. ‘Rant over.’

‘No, I understand, more than most. Every time I go down the street at home, they’re there, waiting to pounce on me. Why can’t they just leave everyone alone?’ Lee said. Requita nodded. ‘Preach it, sister.’

Lee laughed. ‘I don’t mean any offense to journalists and the media, but c’mon, give people a break.’

Requita sighed and rubbed her eyes. Lee cocked his head to one side. ‘Why so glum, princess?’

Requita smiled. ‘Sir Knight, I be weary.’

‘The princess looks it, and I say this in the nicest way possible.’ Lee chuckled. Requita smile widened. ‘You’re so sweet, sir Knight. You are the best knight in my kingdom.’

Lee stood from his seat and went down on one knee and took Requita’s hand. ‘And I know that I have taken a life-long vow to protect the most beautiful of all princesses in this world.’

Requita blushed. ‘Naw, Lee…’

Interrupting the two, a woman walked into the lunch room and saw Requita and Lee. Requita recognised her best friend Becky.

‘Becky, hey.’ Requita stood and so did Lee. Becky smiled and leaned against the wall next to the door she walked through that lead into the main hallway. ‘Am I interrupting something?’

‘No.’ Requita said quickly. ‘What’s up?’

‘Well,’ Becky looked from Lee to Requita. ‘There’s a couple of journalists with cameras outside, and they want to talk with you.’ Becky pointed at Lee. ‘Hiding out?’

Lee cringed. ‘Yeah, you don’t mind, do you?’

‘Well, you can stay…’ Becky opened the door a crack and looked out, then slammed it shut. ‘Quick, outside! They’re coming! I’ll cover for your shift, Requita.’

‘Becky, you’re an angel.’ Requita said as she put on her jacket on and grabbed her bag and slung it over her arm and head and secured it tightly.

‘Wait, you should stay. I’ll be running.’ Lee said as he buttoned up his jacket.

Requita shook her head. ‘Besties stick together. Especially since I’ve only just reunited with you. I’m sticking to you, that’s that. Plus, you don’t know where to run to.’

‘Quick! Just go!’ Becky ushered the two outside. ‘Call me after.’

‘Will do Becks.’ Requita waved good bye at her friend. Lee took her hand and smiled. ‘Ready to run again?’

‘Shit yeah!’ Requita smiled. 

Lee and Requita peeked around the corner at the entrance of the library. There were two photographers and a female journalist standing out the front across from a group of Asian tourists. The tourists started moving towards the road where a bus was.

‘C’mon.’ Requita said, and she and Lee hid behind the group, moving with them as they walked towards the long flight of stairs. But one of the cameramen saw them and pointed. 

‘Shit! Run!’ Lee said, and they broke off from the tourist group and ran down the stairs, passing people who looked at the two of them weirdly. They could hear the journalists calling out to Lee to stop, but he laughed and gripped Requita’s hand tightly as they reached the sidewalk and turned right, sprinting at full speed. Requita was amazed at how much faster Lee was from childhood. Requita just barely kept up with him as the dodged pedestrians, dogs and children as we ran on the sidewalk.

We ran for a few minutes, turning left and right, stopping at an alleyway to catch our breath.

‘Well,’ Lee panted. ‘I think that we lost them.’

‘They’re eating our torque. God damn you’re fast.’ Requita leaned on her knees, trying to catch her breath. 

‘Yeah, I’ve been practising.’ Lee smiled. Then he looked around at the alleyway they were in, ‘Where the hell are we?’ 

Requita looked out to the opening where the road was. Across the road was the café where Requita was meant to meet her mother yesterday. ‘I know where we are. C’mon, I’ll get a cab.’

Lee’s phone beeped. He checked it and sighed. Requita looked at Lee. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘My agent texted me. The hotel I’m staying at is blocked by media. He told me to steer clear.’ 

Requita shrugged. ‘Stay at mine. I have two bedrooms, you can stay the night if you want.’ 

Lee smiled. ‘Yeah? Thanks, Rikki. That’s a heap off my mind now.’ Lee started walking towards the road, but then stopped. Requita noticed. ‘What’s wrong?’

Lee pouted. ‘We didn’t even get to finish our hot chocolates.’

‘And they were really good too.’ Requita groaned with Lee. 

‘Never underestimate Starbucks.’ Lee smiled.

Requita lightly punched Lee’s shoulder. ‘Never. Let’s go.’

‘Where are we going?’ Lee asked, walking beside Requita. Requita smiled. ‘Secret. But don’t worry; it’s not far.’


	5. Chapter Five - On Thin Ice

Requita and Lee hailed a taxi and travelled nineteen blocks north towards Central Park. Requita had whispered the secret location to the cab driver so that Lee wouldn’t hear, and so they talked and laughed as they travelled down Madison Avenue. 

‘Seriously, where are we going?’ Lee said as he looked out the window to the bustling streets of the City That Never Sleeps.

Requita smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘You’ll just have to wait and see.’ Lee turned to Requita and raised an eyebrow. ‘At least give me a hint.’

Requita pondered a little. ‘Hmm, okay. You may have done this activity at the place where we are going to before, though I haven’t.’

‘No?’ Lee asked. Requita shook her head. ‘Twenty-eight years of living in New York, and I haven’t even done this.’ Requita sighed and leaned back on the cab seat, dramatically putting the back of her hand on her forehead. ‘Alas, I should be ashamed. I haven’t even done this and it’s one of New York’s well-known places.’

‘Okay, well-known place, you haven’t done it and it’s an activity…’ Lee stated. ‘I’m thinking, but there are too many things to do in New York.’

Requita looked out the window and sat up. ‘Well, you’ll find out soon enough. We’re nearly there.’ 

Lee and Requita both exited the cab on the busy curb of Central Park. Then sun was just setting and the bottom of it was touching the tops of the trees and the different colours created a beautiful scene of bursting rays of bright against the cold concrete jungle that stands in the highest part of the sky against the harshest winds, the burning heat of the summer sun, and the icy bite of winter. Requita took a quick breath as she wrapped her coat tighter around her, surprised at the sudden frosty cold as she and Lee stepped out of the heated taxi. 

‘Oh God, I can’t wait for spring to come back.’ Requita said as she hopped from one foot to the other. Lee wrapped an arm around her and pulled her tight into a side hug. ‘Yep, Spring, get back here; I’m freezing my ass off.’

Requita took Lee’s arm and started through the entrance of Central Park. Crowds of people were starting to leave, but a few still remained. Lee pulled his coat collar up to his cheekbones, hiding some of his face. 

Requita nodded at him, understanding that this was quality time between best friends. Requita started tugging Lee’s arm and they both started jogging towards the Wollman Ice Skating Rink.

‘Oh my God, you haven’t ice skated before?!’ Lee exclaimed, putting two and two together. Requita shrugged. ‘What can I say? I’m a daisy field girl, not an ice chick.’ Requita smiled at Lee and he laughed. ‘Okay, I’m teaching you how to skate, Rikki. Let’s get some skates.’

Watching Lee get some skates and teaching her some tips about ice skating, Requita noticed something about him. There was a small, yet noticeable tinkle in his eye. His smile was wider, his laugh was louder. And Requita noticed that it had also happened to her. It was so much better being with Lee, and with her childhood pal with her side, it seemed that everything had become a bit brighter and a little more exciting. Now that Sir Lee, Knight of the Daisy Kingdom, had returned to Princess Requita everything clicked together and for the first time since leaving Chickasha, Requita didn’t have the hole in her stomach anymore. Requita could take a deep breath without feeling the incomplete pit inside.

‘Okay, let’s go.’ Lee said, snapping Requita out of her thoughts and putting both their long coats on the seat next to them. Lee helped lace her skates, and the both of them stood at the edge of the ice. Requita grabbed hold of Lee’s arm tightly. ‘For the love of nachos, don’t let me go.’

Lee patted Requita’s hand. ‘Hold onto my betl and I’ll pull you behind me. Just ‘til you get used to it.’

‘Okay.’ Requita said nervously as she looped her fingers around the back of his belt. Then Lee stepped onto the ice, pulling Requita along with him as she squealed. Lee laughed as he started to skate faster around the rink, passing other slower skaters. ‘Oh my God, Lee, slow down!’ Requita’s feet wobbled on the ice as she slid along the slippery surface. Lee held onto Requita’s wrists behind him. ‘Don’t worry; you should try on your own. I’ll swing you in front of me and you try.’

‘Lee, shit, no!’ Requita laughed and slightly panicked at the same time. ‘If I fall, it’s your fault!’

‘Ready? One, two, three!’ Requita let go of Lee’s belt, and he swung her around in front of him on the ice, and Requita rocketed past, her hands out by her sides for balance. Requita laughed as she skated on the ice for the first time. But then she suddenly started speed wobbling on the ice. Panic hit her stomach as Requita started to fall backwards trying to gain balance. She prepared herself to land on the hard and cold ice. This was going to hurt.

But instead, she felt warm arms wrap around her and set her back on her feet. She felt Lee’s body press against her back and his arms wrap around her waist as he glided over the ice and steered her to the seats where their coats were. Requita noticed that the sun had set completely, and the fairy lights were lit in the trees surrounding the ice rink. Feeling Lee’s body against hers and in such an environment, it was almost romantic.

‘Holy shit, dude…’ Requita wobbled as she stepped to her seat and sat down, huffing her hair from her face. Lee leaned against the railing of the rink and smiled. ‘You nearly went for a wipe out there, Rikki. Are you okay?’ 

Requita nodded, and started to unlace her skates. ‘Thank you Lee. Seriously, I nearly really hurt myself there.’

Lee sat next to Requita and took off his skates also. ‘But you were going well before. If you practise a bit more, I think you would be super good at it.’

Both Requita and Lee had then looked at each other, then looked away with slightly rosier cheeks. Lee had enjoyed spending time with Requita, and skating was a good idea. But the thought of holding Requita, the feeling of her warm body against his, was something that Lee felt that he had been missing in his life. Requita’s smile, her laugh; they’re all things that Lee loved about Requita. She was probably the most significant person in his life.

~ 

‘Oooookay…’ Requita said as she and Lee entered her apartment, greeted by the small meows of Roy and a freezing cold atmosphere. ‘Shit, I always forget the radiator.’ Requita picked up Roy and wrapped his small furry body in her coat. His fur was cold, and there was the possibility that there were some icicles on his nose. I'm such a bad mother.

‘Poor little guy; he’s so cold.’ Lee patted his head as it sticked out from Requita’s coat. Roy purred as Lee scratched him. Requita smiled as her feline friend bonded with her childhood friend. Lee always had a natural bond with animals.

‘Okay, so your room is down the hall to the right, mine’s on the left and the bathroom is directly ahead, just so you know.’ Requita directed Lee, pointing down the hall as she walked to the kitchen and turned on the kettle. ‘Tea?’

‘Yes, please.’ Lee said, bravely taking off his coat. ‘You want the radiator on?’

‘Umm, if you don’t want your toes falling off, I think so.’ Requita smiled at Lee as he went to the radiator to figure out the dials and switches on the old radiator. Requita leaned on the kitchen bench and observed her friend as he busied himself with the job of heating the small apartment. Requita noted the way he stood, the way he used his hands, the way how he slightly tapped his foot to a rhythm in his head and hummed quietly. Roy purred and rubbed the top of his head against Requita’s head, wanting to snuggle up under a warm blanket with his owner, but she was too in depth in her thoughts as she observed the new nice man.  
‘Off in a day dream?’ Lee snapped Requita out of her thoughts. Lee had started the radiator and was in the process of taking his coat and scarf off and draping them over the couch. Requita smiled and put Roy down to remove her coat, her waist-long brown hair crackling from the static electricity built up from rubbing on the fabric. ‘Just lost in my thoughts. Is your agent going to bring by your stuff?’

‘In the morning. I’m okay with roughing it without clean clothes for tonight.’ Lee said as he rubbed Roy’s head as the furry feline searched for attention from his new friend. Lee picked up the feline and started scratching behind his ears as Requita attended to the boiling kettle and made cups of hot tea for the both of them. 

‘Really, Lee, thank you for today.’ Requita handed her childhood friend his cup of tea. Lee placed Roy on the ground and took it. ‘Thanks for taking me; I had a really good time, even if you did nearly land on your ass.’  
Requita laughed. ‘But c’mon, that was good for my first time ice skating.’

Lee nodded. ‘Yeah, you’ll have to practise more before spring rolls around.’ Lee took a sip of tea. Requita nodded. ‘Definitely. But you have to teach me more during your stay in New York. Are you on any projects at the moment?’

‘I’m a part of a TV show called “Halt and Catch Fire”, but I promise you now, I will take as much time as I can to teach you the fine art of skating.’ Lee declared loudly.

‘You make it sound like an ancient practise.’ Requita giggled. Lee puffed out his chest and held his head high, ‘And that it is. You can’t joke about the beautiful and elegant art of ice skating.’

Requita smiled and looked down at her cup and moved it to observe the liquid slosh. Lee stopped smiling and put his cup down and placed his hands on hers, stopping Requita from making the cup shake. ‘I know there’s something on your mind; what’s wrong?’ 

She just shrugged her shoulders, feeling the warmth from both the tea and Lee’s hands. ‘It’s nothing, just leave it.’ Requita answered with a small voice. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. She felt Lee remove his hands from her hands and she instantly missed the warmth he was providing for her.

‘I’m not gonna leave it…’ Requita heard Lee say in a weird voice. Sher opened her eyes and looked up, only to see Roy being held up to Lee’s chest facing toward her. He smiled. ‘Roy doesn’t wanna leave it.’ He said in the weird voice, moving Roy’s paws as he talked. Requita smiled and patted the confused cat. ‘Well, Roy, I had no idea you could talk.’  
‘I can, and I wanna know what’s wrong.’ Roy’s paws bounced as Lee imitated, trying to make Requita laugh. 

She rolled her eyes and put her cup down on the bench, putting both her warm hands on Roy’s furry head and looking into his yellow eyes. ‘Well Roy, the annoying man holding you is my old friend,’ Requita thought long and hard about the net few words she would say. ‘And having him back is great and all, there’s just something missing…’

Lee frowned and placed Roy gently onto the floor, where he rubbed his head on Requita’s jeans and walked off, tail in the air. 

Lee took her hands into his. ‘What do you mean something’s missing?’

Requita took a deep breath. ‘Don’t you feel it too? Like something’s missing? Lee, since bumping back into you after so long is amazing and suspiciously like an act of fate, and I’ve had this hole in my chest since we parted.’ Requita shifted her feet. ‘I don’t know, it’s like I left something behind and now seeing you and being with you again doesn’t quite fill the gap.’

Lee frowned again. ‘I always thought that you were happy, apart from moving suddenly. I always hoped that you would be happy and have fun and meet new friends…’ 

Requita looked down at her fingers entangled with Lee’s. She saw his chest slowly rise and fall, taking a deep breath. ‘I just always hoped, above all those things that you would wait for me.’ 

She looked up at Lee confused. ‘What do you mean, wait for you?’

‘You were my whole world, like literally Daisy Kingdom was the only place I wanted to be with you. I wanted to be your knight in shining armour who would carry you away on a white horse.’

‘Lee, what are you trying to say?’ Requita suddenly started sweating. Lee’s eyes widened. “Oh God, not like romantically wait for me, I meant like wait for me cause I’m the only best friend I’ll ever allow you to have.’

Requita laughed. ‘You sounded like you were confessing your undying love for me.’

‘Which I have much of,’ Lee smiled. ‘It’s not like I’m getting down on one knee, I’m just trying to describe how I feel and how I see you; it’s a bit hard.’

Requita smiled. ‘Try, and I’ll try my best to understand.’

‘Well, around you I never thought about anyone else, romantically or best friend-wise; it’s like I don’t need anyone else when I have you,’ Lee described. ‘You are the person I want and need in my life; you’re just like…my friend-wife.’

‘Friend-wife?’ Requita raised an eyebrow. ‘You can’t just put two words together and call it an explanation.’

‘I know, but it’s just like your friendship – no, your sister-ship with me, it’s like that’s all I will ever need. You’re the most significant person in my life, and I don’t need anyone else but you by my side.’

Requita thought about this. His words were heartfelt, and what he was feeling was something similar to how she felt. She had no romantic thoughts about Lee, never thought about marriage or sex with him; it’s just him being in her life was the pinnacle of her existence. She loved Lee with all her heart, just not in the way like movies would depict it. He was just like the brother she never had mixed in with the fantasy man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with plus her best friend all in one person.

There, the click, the hole, the never ending pit in her chest, where was it? Requita was so used to feeling it that it had become a part of her, and now it being gone she felt as if something had been taken when something had been filled. She suddenly felt whole and full, like what Lee just said was everything she wanted.

Requita opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the Ghostbuster’s theme song coming out of her bag. She cringed as the bag vibrated, the fragile moment between her and Lee now shattered. He took his hands away and smiled. ‘I wonder who that can be?’ 

 

Requita silently cursed whoever was calling and dug into her bag and answered the phone. ‘Hello?’ Requita said tensely.

‘You don’t sound happy.’ The voice of her mother came through the phone accompanied with the noisy background of her television.

‘I’m kinda in the middle of something right now, can whatever you need to talk about wait ten minutes?’ Requita rubbed the back of her neck, feeling a headache starting to cramp her neck muscles.

‘I’m your mother; I don’t wait for you, you wait for me. And plus, I just wanted to congratulate you becoming the scandal of the year.’ Requita’s mother’s voice said roughly.

‘Scandal? What the hell are you talking about?’ Requita asked, turning to face Lee as he listened. 

‘On the TV hon; you and that boy are on the news prancing about the library and the skating rink. Congratulations, your father is so proud.’ Requita could hear the venom dripping off of her words. She quickly grabbed the remote from the couch and turned on the TV. Lee approached behind Requita as she quickly flipped through the channels until she found the news channel her mother was talking about.

“…and as the couple ran away from our cameras, our New York representative managed to get a clear photo of them together.” Requita and Lee saw a picture of Lee and Requita smiling hand in hand as they were running down the library steps onto the sidewalk. 

‘Oh shit, do they think were a couple?’ Requita asked, not particularly directed at anyone. 

“This clearly shows Lee and a young girl we suspect works at the New York Public Library running from our reporter. But questions still stand after today’s romantic discovery; are they together? Who is the mystery woman? And when are they going to make it ‘official’?”

‘Young lady, your father and I are very concerned and disappointed. This is considered a celebrity scandal and you’re basically a floozy in the eyes of the media.’ Requita’s mother said, reminding her that she was still on the phone.

Requita sat down on the couch and Roy jumped up next to her. ‘Mom, it really isn’t what it seems. The reporters were-‘ 

‘I don’t care about your side of the story; I only care about how my only daughter is portrayed by the media to the public.’ Requita punched the cushion next to her, making Roy leap off of the couch and onto the coffee table. “Mom, this isn’t my fault! If you’re not gonna listen to me, then why are you even calling me?’

‘Because I want you to know how much of a silly child you are. Your name will be dragged through the mud, including me and-‘

‘I don’t care!’ Requita found herself yelling, making Lee flinch. ‘You don’t get to dictate my life from the other side of a phone. You don’t get to make every decision for me when you don’t even know me. I will do what I want to do, when I want to do, and if you don’t have a nice thing to say, then don’t ever call me.’ She hung up and slammed the phone down on the coffee table, frightening Roy again and making him scamper away. 

Requita took a deep breath and cupped her head in her hands, letting her hair fall around her face like a curtain. ‘God, that woman…’

She felt Lee sit next to her and put his arm around her. ‘Are you okay?’

Requita looked up at Lee. ‘I’m so damn done with her.’

‘You have been for a long while; this time standing up to her was the best thing.’

Requita leaned back into the crook of Lee’s arm and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘I don’t understand why she has to be so controlling; I’m in my thirties for Christ’s sake, I can make my own decisions and reap the consequences if there are any.’

‘I think you’re gonna reap the consequences from Roy; he’s shit scared of you now.’ Lee smiled. Requita let a small smile appear and sighed. ‘He’ll come for cuddles in an hour or so. I often scare him ‘cause I’m so clumsy.’

Lee chuckled, making her head bounce a little. Requita closed her eyes and tuned out the TV, focusing on his breathing and her head moving with his chest rising and falling. After spending today with Lee, and fighting with her mother which seemed to have drained her of most of her sanity and energy, falling asleep on Lee’s shoulder seemed like a good idea. Especially when he had rested his head on hers and closed his eyes also, intending on sleeping. 

Now recovered from his fright, Roy jumped up onto Lee’s lap and laid down, purring as he watched the flashing colours on the flat surface of the TV, then became annoyed by its loudness. He had seem his master turn off the TV with the remote on the coffee table, so then leaped onto the table and pressed the red power button, and the lounge room went dark; the only source of light illuminating the open plan setting of Requita’s apartment being the kitchen light. Trained to turn off devices when Requita wasn’t home or fell asleep, Roy wasn’t just a well-loved pet, but one that saved his master a lot of money in power bills. 

Requita dreamed of running around with Lee when they were little; back in Chickasha where she fell from the tree and they watched the leaves dance in the wind; Lee dreamt of skating with Requita on a never ending frozen lake, falling over and laughing with her; and Roy dreamt of hunting mice and his master coming home with dinner and pats.

It seemed that everything had fallen perfectly into place.


	6. Chapter Six - Mother Needs To Be Taken Down A Few Notches

PLEASE READ THIS NOTE  
TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING  
This next chapter talks about attempted suicide and domestic abuse. Please be advised that I don't want any of you having trigger attacks about this chapter, so if these are triggers to you, please do not read this chapter.  
(Also I'm sorry, I'm kinda new to the AO3 formatting and tagging system, so if it doesn't say in the description of this fic that there are triggers, then I am very sorry and hope you can forgive me. I'm gonna ask a friend to give me a crash course on everything.)  
Please enjoy this chapter if you can; I wrote Requita having these experiences to show how someone who has gone through some serious shit can come back strong and a survivor. These will also be reoccurring in one more chapter, and as a sneak preview, I'll let you know that Requita kicks some serious arse!  
Many thanks and apologies,  
The Phoenix Alchemst!!!

 

Requita woke to her furry feline bopping her nose with his paw, meowing loudly. She smiled and scratched behind Roy’s ear and yawned. She looked up to see Lee fast asleep with his head leaning back against the couch with his mouth open and his arm around her shoulders. He twitched and snorted loudly as he shifted his position, which made Roy jumped a few feet in the air and run to sit by the radiator, watching Lee with wide eyes. 

Requita quickly covered her mouth as she resisted the urge to laugh aloud. She moved silently away from Lee’s slumber embrace and tip toed into the kitchen, with Roy padding after her in hope for a treat. 

‘C’mon Roy, you want some din-dins?’ Requita whispered, taking a small can of Fancy Feast out of the cupboard. Roy meowed loudly and rubbed his head on her calf. She looked at the clock next to the front door. 5:09 am.

‘Okay Roy, what do you want?’ Requita asked, holding the cat food can. Roy sat on his hind legs and lifted his front paws up to his chin, meowing. This was something Requita taught him, along with turning off the TV and bringing the mail that comes through the flap in the door onto the coffee table. Roy was am amazingly smart feline, and she was so happy to have a friend like him.

‘Good boy. Here’s your din-dins.’ Requita opened the can and scooped the cat food into Roy’s bowl and put the empty can into the garbage can. He purred as approached his food bowl and started eating.

‘He’s a smart kitty cat…’ a deep voice said quietly. Requita jumped out of fright and looked over to the couch to see Lee awake and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Requita smiled. ‘Hey Sir Snores-A-Lot, coffee?’

Lee chuckled. ‘I snored? Sorry about that.’

Requita put the kettle on boil. ‘Well I wouldn’t say snoring. You were sleeping on a weird angle, so I’d say “snorting”.’

Lee winced and rubbed his neck. ‘Yeah, I got a kink in my neck from that. Next time let’s fall asleep on a bed.’

‘Agreed.’ Requita said as she yawned and put coffee and sugar into one mug and a tea bag into another mug. ‘Hey, did your manager say when he was stopping by?’

Le stood and pondered this for a second as he stretched and tried to pat his hair back into place. ‘Umm…I may not have told him your address…’

‘Dude, for real? The guy who’s technically responsible for you doesn’t know where you are or where to go to pick you up?’ Requita poured hot water into the mugs. ‘Probably should call him to let him know you’re alive.’

A loud knock at Requita’s front door made her jump and spill hot water on her hand. She swore silently and quickly put the kettle down to run her hand under cold water. ‘Lee, can you answer that?’

‘Gotcha.’ Lee unlatched the chain from the door and opened it to reveal the pinched and angry face of Requita’s mother. Lee stood back to allow her to walk into her daughter’s apartment. ‘Requita.’

She turned around and wrapped a tea towel over her now red hand. ‘Mom, what are you doing here? It’s five in the morning.’

‘Well obviously it’s not too early for the both of you.’ Requita’s mother took note of her daughter’s messy hair and wrinkled clothes, and that Lee was in a similar state.

‘It’s very nice to see you again, Meredith. It’s been too long.’ Lee introduced himself and extended his hand for a handshake. Requita’s mother turned to Lee. ‘That’s Mrs Belgraeves to you.’ Lee nodded and let his hand fall back to his side.

‘Is it a good idea to have him stay at your home? God knows who could be following you around, especially estranged fans.’ Meredith said as she tucked a stray dyed brown hair back into her dark blue head scarf.   
‘No one’s following us, Mom. We just got photographed at the library-‘

‘Where you work, Requita!’ Meredith interrupted. ‘Think about it. They know where you work now, and they can go there to harass you. They can find out where you live and stalk you, which is how the press operate.’

‘That’s a bit rash, Mom.’ Requita sighed and checked her hand under the towel. Lee tucked his hands into his jean pockets and stood awkwardly next to the door. ‘That’s what restraining orders are for, Mrs Belgraeves. I wouldn’t let Rikki get hurt-‘

‘Was I talking to you?’ Meredith turned to Lee with a raised eyebrow and a sour look. Lee was taken back by her sudden rudeness and looked down at his shoes.

‘MOM!’ Requita screamed and threw the tea towel onto the ground, making Roy quickly run away from his bowl which he was licking clean. Meredith and Lee looked at her strangely. 

‘Don’t you dare be rude to Lee; he is my friend.’ Requita huffed and tucked her hair behind her ears.

‘How dare you-‘ Her mother started.

‘I’m not done talking!’ Requita yelled. ‘You need to stop acting like you’re the centre of everything.’ Requita started to approach her mother in small steps as she talked. 

‘You don’t care about what happens to me, as long as it doesn’t affect you in a bad light. When I got a job at the library, you called to tender my resignation before I even started just because you wanted me to work at dad’s company. When I dated Derek, you loved him so much because he was an expensive lawyer with expensive tastes who worked under Dad, you even turned a blind eye when it was so damn obvious he was abusive.’ Requita stood eye to eye with her mother as she continued speaking.

‘I came to you when I needed to get away from him, and you actually called him to come and get me because you thought I was going insane!’ Requita rolled up her sleeves to show Meredith the thick scars on her wrists. ‘I tried to fucking kill myself because I thought it was the only way out! And you had the guts to stand at my hospital bed and say that I was a paranoid mess. Well guess the fuck what? This paranoid mess is kicking you out, of both my apartment and my goddamn life!’ Requita raised a finger to point at Meredith. ‘Because I’m more than old enough to know what’s best for me, and to know what parasitic pricks I need to eradicate from my life. And Lee?’ Requita walked to Lee and wrapped her arm around his waist. ‘I know he’s the best thing in this fucked up world; and if it means that my relationship with him is going to ruin your “perfect image”, then I will happily shout it from the rooftops.’

Requita let go of Lee and opened her front door and gestured for Meredith to leave. ‘And if you can’t accept me for being his sister and you can’t apologise for all the bullshit you’ve put me through, then leave and don’t come back ‘til you’ve realise how fucking toxic you are.’

Silence enveloped the apartment like a thick fog. Meredith stood completely dumbstruck by her daughter’s outburst and so did Lee. It took only a few moment for Meredith to process what her daughter said, and she raised her head high and slowly walked to the doorway. She stopped beside her daughter and looked into her eyes, seeing the seething anger and frustration making her start to tear up. Meredith looked forward and walked out of the apartment, her daughter left to listen to the sound of her heels going slowly across the hallway and down the stairs, until Requita couldn’t hear anything but her own breathing and the faint street noises outside.

She shut the door gradually and leaned her head against it and sighed. Then started laughing, which made Lee a little scared. ‘Rikki, are you okay?’

Requita turned around to smile at Lee and nodded. ‘I’m going to get a few noise complaints for that.’

Lee looked like he didn’t know whether to smile and laugh with Requita, or sit down and weep. ‘Um, Rikki…’

She took his hand. ‘I know, I have a lot that I have to tell you, don’t I?’

Lee wrapped his arm around Requita and kissed her forehead. ‘Nothing you don’t wanna tell me. You don’t owe me any explanation for what you said to your mom.’

She smiled and hugged him, taking a deep breathe. ‘Thanks, but I think it’s time to get it all off my chest. You’re the only one I can talk to about this, because I trust you.’

Lee hugged her back tightly. ‘I don’t think Roy will trust you with the tea towel again though.’ Requita chuckled and hugged his body tighter. ‘He’ll forgive me when I give him a kitty treat.’


	7. Chapter Seven - Explanations and More Time Together

‘…and no matter how many times I tried to tell Mom to tell Dad, she said no and told me to keep it to myself because it was my fault.’ Requita finished, laying back on the couch with a huff. Lee was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, absorbing what his best friend had just said.

It was now six fifteen in the morning, and the first daylight rays of sunshine were floating through the cracks of the curtains into the living room  
‘So, this abusive dickwad you dated works for your dad, and only you and your mom, and now me, knows what he did to you?’ Lee asked, leaning back to look at Requita as she delicately placed her slightly burnt hand on her knee. 

‘Well, apart from the doctors and psychiatrists…yeah.’ Requita sighed and rubbed her eyes with her uninjured hand. ‘Mom liked Derek so much, and she thought that having that information floating about the workplace would be disastrous. I used to go to Dad’s office and bring lunch for the both of us; he often forgets to eat when he’s working. Now I can’t even go near the building, knowing Derek’s still in there.’

‘If I was there…’ Lee shook his head and bit his lip. Requita frowned and turned her body towards Lee. ‘What?’

‘He hurt you, Rikki…’ Lee started. ‘If I was there, I wouldn’t’ve let him keep breathing.’

Requita opened her mouth to protest against Lee’s sudden dark comment, but he interrupted her. ‘I know, I know, that’s pretty bad for me to say, but him hurting you, to me is like him hurting my sister.’ Lee hooked his left hand pinkie finger with Requita’s right as a sign of comfort. ‘As your metaphorical brother, I gotta protect you, just as you protect me.’

Requita smiled. ‘I appreciate the “protective brotherly love”, but my hand still kinda hurts.’ 

Lee immediately released her pinkie and stood. ‘Do you have burn cream?’

‘In the bottom drawer in the bathroom.’ Requita said, sitting up to finish her tea as Lee quickly disappeared down the hallway in pursuit of burn cream. 

Requita set her mug down and yawned, rubbing her eyes. A ding from her phone on the coffee table alerted her to a text message from Becky:

Hay sista x  
Know you and Mr. Sexy want time to catch up so got you two extra days off work  
Make sure to fill me in on ALL the juicy stuff when you come back to work  
xo

Requita chuckled and texted back a reply, just as Lee’s phone started vibrating, indicating someone was trying to call him.

‘Hey, could you answer that? I’m still trying to find the cream.’ Lee called out from the bathroom.

‘Okay.’ Requita called back, and swiped Lee’s phone to answer. ‘Lee Pace’s phone, Requita speaking.’

‘This is Lee’s agent; where is he?!’ A man’s strained voice came through the other end. ‘I’ve been trying to call him but he won’t answer.’

‘Oh hi! Sorry, he fell asleep before he could give you the address to drop off his things-‘

‘Drop off his things? I ain’t no delivery service; Lee has got to stop running off by himself!’ Lee’s agent sounded agitated.

‘Look, I’m super sorry about him going off and not calling you yesterday. He slept at mine after you texted him about all the fans outside the hotel.’ Lee walked into the small lounge room with the burn cream and mouthed silently: “Agent?” Requita nodded, and Lee extended his hand to Requita, and she gave him his phone.

(A/N: I have no idea what Lee’s agent’s name is, and I don’t really think any of us really know, so Imma call him…Dennis.)

‘Dennis? Hey bud, how are things?’ Lee smiled as he talked, then knelt in front of Requita and uncapped the burn cream. He applied the cream onto her hand and held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he talked Dennis.

‘Yeah I know, I’m sorry…yes, she’s an old friend…no…no Dennis, friend…FRY-END…I know you not a maid, but do you seriously expect me to come and get my stuff when, as you describe, an armada of people are camping outside the hotel?...it’s not my fault someone snapped my picture on the subway.’ Requita signalled his to stop applying the burn cream and handed him the tea towel she picked up off the floor. Lee took it and wiped his hands clean with it and pulled out soft white bandages from his pocket and started wrapping Requita’s hand delicately.

‘Yes Dennis…yeah, I can text you the address…no I remember; I have at least one more week to myself before I gotta fly back, and I’m going to spend it with Rikki.’ Lee looked up at Requita and raised his eyebrow. Requita nodded, agreeing to spend a week with Lee. Lee smiled. ‘Yeah, she says yes…and if it’s okay with her, I think I’ll stay with her rather than at the hotel?’

Requita nodded again, smiling even brighter. ‘I refuse to let you stay anywhere else.’

Lee chuckled. ‘Did you hear that Dennis?...no, she’s like my sister…JESUS, Dennis, no!’ Requita laughed at Lee’s reactions to whatever Dennis was implying.  
Lee finished dressing Requita’s hand. ‘No, she doesn’t have a boyfriend…no I am not the boyfriend…no she lives alone, but she has a really super smart cat called Roy…oh, you’re allergic to cats? I didn’t know that…oh c’mon don’t be like that…okay…okay…bye.’ Lee hung up and quickly texted Requita’s address to the cat-allergic agent. ‘He’s so sure we’re dating, especially after seeing the news articles and pictures of us at the library.’

‘Oh well, at least we’ll get some privacy to catch up more.’ Requita ran her hand gently over the white bandages.

‘Yeah, so much that he’s not even going to introduce himself, and just leave my stuff at the front door and ring the doorbell and run.’ Lee cringed and noticed that both his and Requita’s mugs were empty. ‘Refill?’ He collected the mugs and proceeded to the kitchen, where Roy sat next to his water bowl, observing.

‘I think it’s time for breakfast, don’t you?’ Requita stood and pocketed her phone from the coffee table. ‘There’s this place two blocks up that does warm croissants.’  
‘Y’know, I can make pancakes.’ Lee smiled. ‘And even better, bacon pancakes.’ 

Roy meowed loudly at the word “bacon”, and Requita laughed, walking into the kitchen and picked him up. ‘You ate an hour ago; stop pretending you’re still hungry.’  
Lee smiled and scratched behind Roy’s ear. ‘I’m sure if some bacon were to accidentally fall off the counter and onto the floor, someone would gobble that up like a high-powered vacuum.’ 

‘How about I go out and get the croissants, and you make the bacon pancakes, and we have a little feast?’ Requita asked, putting Roy down on the floor and switched the kettle on again.

‘I think that sounds awesome,’ Lee smiled. ‘But I think I should pour the hot drinks from now on.’


End file.
